In developing, manufacturing, and testing today's products, high demands are placed on the technologies used to achieve the desired manufacturing accuracy. Products of this type for which the demands on production accuracy are very high include, for example, turbine engines. In particular in the area of manufacturing and testing technology, the positionability of tools or measuring instruments, for example, X-ray diffractometers, with respect to the components is of decisive importance. To achieve high product quality and make manufacturing processes cost-effective, it is important to be able to check the orientation of these working means continuously during operation.
No possibilities are known at the present time that permit a visualization of the directions of action of tools or invisible rays, for example X-rays of an X-ray diffractometer, during operation. Instead, a light source or its light beam is folded or reflected into the spatial direction of the working means that corresponds to the direction of action. The requisite devices require a large amount of space and are of elaborate construction, since direct access is needed to the spatial direction in which the direction of action of the working means runs. Such constructions often diminish the performance spectrum of the working means, or of the entire system. Furthermore, a representation of the direction of action of the working means is normally only possible if the tool or beam operation of the working means is interrupted.